Finding the Labyrinth videoclips.
BOWIE:THE VIDEO COLLECTION
Details:
Year: 1993
Released by: Picture Music International
Company: EMI
Two video clips were made for Labyrinth. One was made to accompany the release of Underground as a single and the other was made for the impending release of As the World Falls Down. There was change in plans last minute though which saw the release of ATWFD canned. Subsequently the matching video never got released. You can find this exclusive clip though, and the Underground one as well, on a fabulous compilation of Bowie video clips called Bowie: The Video Collection. And they are brilliant clips! Among Bowie’s best as they have been fully conceptualised and designed. Although they go in theme with Labyrinth, they also stand alone as stories in themselves (hands up those who are sick of your average run of the mill made-to-promote-a-movie video clips? Me, me!).
To describe quickly, the Underground clip features Bowie as himself, strutting around smoky alleys in a Jareth long coat and giving lots of Jarethian glances and bumping into most of Henson’s creatures, with Hoggle acting as his guide (hey, that's funny). The video combines the human world with the Muppet world and the animation world and is very technically clever and a lot of fun.
As the World Falls Down features an overworked video vixen (not Jen, but a close match) dreaming of escape and a gorgeous Bowie all done up like a 50’s jazz singer. And yes, there’s Hoggle as well, once again playing Bowie’s guide. This clip is beautiful and like the Underground video, features the Labyrinth theme of two different worlds clashing together, protrayed here as the world in black and white against the world in colour, with colour washes and colour bleeding in between, as Bowie pioneered in his 'Ashes to Ashes' clip. There are other themes adapted from Labyrinth and used in a different context, such as the concept of 'falling' and the rock formations that resemble Bowie's face. In one scene the girl dreams she is resting on a giant mask of David's face (this is so stunning).
The NTSC (US & Can) version is long out of print , so sorry to all the American and Canadian punters. The Pal version is currently available in both the UK and Oz. The Australians have to pay a little bit more but you’ll agree with me it’s quite worth the price. Order online or find with minimal fuss in person. Shop around to not get ripped off.
UK distributor:
BlackStar.co.ukOz distributors:
78 Records
ChaosMusic
Book Excerpt: The Underground video is directed by Steve Barron who Jim Henson later convinced to direct the pilot for his "The Storyteller" series. This what author Matt Bacon had to say from "No Strings Attached": 
"Barron's concept for the video involved using the creatures from the film around a contemporary David Bowie. For the few days of the video shoot, Barron worked closely with Brian Henson and took the opportunity to show Jim some of the previous work he'd done. Barron combined animation and live action in his video to powerful effect, and both Henson's were impressed with the final Bowie video."
The Video Collection Playlist and site owner’s comments
Coming soon: video synopses for Underground and ATWFD.
Q: Did Bowie do any other Labyrinth clips by perchance?"
A: Dance Magic was released as a single, but I do not know if there was a clip to go with this (the mind boggles). Bowie’s most recent collaboration with puppets was for a clip for The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (off ‘hours…’). Bowie was not happy with the end result so the clip was ditched. It’s in existence, but unreleased, how big a shame is this? You can learn more about this from Evan Torrie. Hopefully it’ll be released one day like ATWFD.Q: I live in the US/Canada, what can I do about the Bowie video?
A: The only suggestion I have is to buy the PAL version and to get it converted, although it might be costly and you lose the actual physical tape. That’s short of going out and buying a multi-formatted VCR. Try searching for a second hand copy, I don’t come from the states so I wouldn’t know the success of this, but I wish you good luck.
[ I WANT MORE STUFF! ]
